A recent study has revealed that climate change is severely impacting cacao production in West Africa, threatening the global chocolate supply. The West African region, responsible for about 70 per cent of the world's cacao production, has experienced unusually high temperatures, droughts, diseases, and unpredictable rainfall in recent years. These environmental stresses have devastated harvests, contributing to lower production rates.
The cocoa shortage has resulted in skyrocketing prices, which has driven up the cost of chocolate globally. Farmers in the region have struggled with these extreme weather conditions, leading to increased costs of cultivation and decreased yields.
Experts warn that if climate change continues to affect cacao production, the price of chocolate could rise even further, placing additional pressure on consumers and the chocolate industry.
A new report found that "climate change, due primarily to burning oil, coal, and methane gas, is causing hotter temperatures to become more frequent" in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria.
The study, by the independent research group Climate Central, found the trend was particularly marked in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two biggest cacao producers.
Using observational data from 44 cacao-producing areas in West Africa and computer models, the researchers compared today's temperatures with a counterfactual of a world without the effects of climate change.
They looked at the likelihood of these regions facing temperatures in excess of 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 Fahrenheit) - above levels considered optimum for cacao trees.
The report calculated that over the last decade, climate change had added an extra three weeks of above 32C heat in Ivory Coast and Ghana during the main growing season between October and March.
Last year, the hottest year globally on record, they found that climate change drove temperatures above 32C on at least 42 days across two thirds of the areas analyzed.
(With inputs from AFP)
